Arsenal’s Victory Over Man City Closes the Gap in the WSL Title Race

Arsenal’s ding-dong struggle on Sunday handed the Gunners a thrilling 4-3 victory away to Manchester City thanks to a goal from striker Stina Blackstenius in the 78th minute. However, Chelsea’s 1-0 victory over Aston Villa kept them atop the table.

Chelsea is seven points ahead of second-place Manchester United, who maintained the pressure with a 1-0 victory against Tottenham Hotspur in Sunday’s late start. Chelsea defeated Arsenal a week ago, dealing a severe blow to the Gunners’ league hopes.

After a fierce match in the opening match of the day, Arsenal’s victory put them three points behind Manchester United in third place on 27 points, two points ahead of City, who are now in fourth place.

After 42 seconds, Mariona Caldentey gave the Gunners the lead with a goal, and seven minutes later, defender Lotte Wubben-Moy headed in a free kick to give the visitors a two-goal lead.

Five minutes after the interval, Vivianne Miedema tied the score amid a hectic start to the second half. Mary Fowler scored the first of her two goals for City in the 20th minute, hitting home from close range at the back post.

Frida Maanum gave Arsenal the lead again a minute later, but the visitors’ happiness was short-lived as Steph Catley was given a penalty that Fowler scored to tie it 3-3 even though the touch seemed to have taken place outside the area.

The Swedish international Blackstenius made up for several missed opportunities by hammering home Beth Mead’s ball to give Arsenal a well-earned victory. City added striker Khadija Shaw as they attempted to win the game.

Caldentey, the goal scorer for Arsenal, stated that her team was happy to recover from their loss to Chelsea with nine league games remaining.

“We needed a win today after what happened last week, we want to be on the top and to try and win every game,” she explained to Sky Sports.

Despite playing a team full of firepower, Chelsea required an own goal from Sarah Mayling of Aston Villa in the 82nd minute to secure the three points in Birmingham, where they endured one of the toughest tests of their season thus far.

On the opposite end of the 12-team table, 11th-place Leicester City lost 4-1 on the road to Everton, while bottom-place Crystal Palace earned a much-needed point in a 1-1 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion.

On the opposite side of Merseyside, Liverpool defeated West Ham United 1-0 thanks to a goal by Leanne Kiernan.